DEMO AFRICA 2017 Key Dates, Entry Categories and How To Apply

The 2017 annual Demo Africa technology startup launch event is set to take place on 6th and 7th September in Johannesburg south Africa.

Announced earlier today at a press briefing in Nairobi, the organizers said that the application portal for the 2017 edition of the startup launch event is now open and startups have until April 30th to apply to launch at the continent’s largest event for tech startups.

The Dates

Following this announcement, below are key dates to note for the mini-DEMO Africa events also known as the innovation tours set to take place in partnership with partner hubs and accelerators across the continent.

There are 15 countries set to participate this year.

The 15 countries are divided into 4 sections which include; Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern Africa

Eastern African Countries include( Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda) to be visited in February

Southern Africa Countries include ( South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana ) To be visited in March

Western Africa countries include (Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal,cote d’ivoire and Cameroon) to be visited in April

Northern Africa countries include ( Egypt, Morocco ) To be visited in May

“We will be covering all the four corners of the continent and we have increased the number of countries that we will visit this year,” said Eng. Martin Obuya, projects director at DEMO Africa, who noted that some of the new stops include Botswana, Cote d’voire, Senegal and Morocco. “There has been a lot of innovation and entrepreneurship activities in these new countries and we hope to catalyze the ecosystems there in line with our mission.”

The Mentors

During the Innovation Tours, the DEMO Africa team and partners will engage with technology startups to share the DEMO Africa vision, coach and mentor interested startups, as well as share tools that can help them build and grow their businesses.

In addition to the pitch competition to win a direct entry to launch at DEMO Africa, startups will be able to engage with the DEMO Africa team, mentors and coaches from partner organizations.

The Boot camp

On completion of the mini-DEMO, 30 companies will be selected to launch their products at the main event in September. The 30 companies will also receive mentorship and will attend a 2-day boot camp in preparation for their launch and software services worth more than US $150,000 each for the next three years

This is the 6th edition of DEMO Africa, which debuted in 2012 at the World Economic Forum for Africa in 2012 and has been held in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa